Have you ever read an article or watched a presentation and wished that you would have written or delivered it first? I felt that way last year when I stumbled upon this talk by storyteller/poet/improviser/musician Dave Morris. His TEDx Victoria talk is the talk I wish I would have delivered back when I was daydreaming about delivering a TED talk.

It has been more years than I care to admit since I have been on stage and improvised. But I continue to reap the benefits of taking a year’s worth of improv classes shortly after graduating college. And while I don’t earn a living getting up on stage and entertaining others, I do apply the principals of improv in my daily life.

That is why, on Thanksgiving Day 2012, I am thankful for the lessons and fun that improv has given me. I am also grateful for the improvisors who continue to perfect their craft and entertain us…on television, in theaters and at the office. These improvisors remind us and are examples of how taking risks can be healthy and rewarding.

I recently stumbled across a video that brought me back to my improv days and explores the subculture of improv. You might recognize some familiar faces in this one.

In the previous post, we examined the top ten commencement addresses of 2011 as determined by The Huffington Post. Overall, it was a pretty good list with a wide variety and selection of speakers.

But one great speech was left out, most likely because the speech occurred after The Huffington Post published their list. This year, my favorite commencement address was delivered by Stephen Colbert to Northwestern University on June 17.

Why was it my favorite? Simply because Colbert’s speech was the perfect combination of humor and words of wisdom. And it didn’t hurt that I really agree with the tips he shared from his improv days at Second City and his thoughts about service.

I’ll be the first one to admit that my feelings about Colbert change quite often when watching his program, The Colbert Report. There are many days I will laugh hysterically and other days when I’m just not in the mood to watch at all. But one thing I strongly admire about Colbert is his ability to write funny jokes about serious topics…and he does that here in the commencement address to Northwestern University.

Here are a few key thoughts:

On following our dreams…”dreams can change…if we’d all stick with our first dream, the world would be overrun with cowboys and princesses. So whatever your dream is right now, if you don’t achieve it, you haven’t failed..and your not some loser.”

On service…”service is love made visible…try to love others and serve others – and hopefully find those who’ll love and serve you in return.”

On improvisation…”you are not the most important person in the scene, everybody else is.” He also went on to say, “you cannot win improv – and life is like an improvisation. You have no idea what’s going to happen next and you are mostly just yanking ideas out of your ass as you go along. And like improv, you cannot win your life – even when it might look like your winning.”

Do yourself a favor…check out Colbert’s speech…and let me know what you think.

You’ve been thinking about taking an improv class for a long time and you’re wondering how you can prepare for your classes and “get a leg up” on your classmates. Or perhaps you’re wondering how you can incorporate a little more improvisation in your daily life.

It’s been a long time since I completed a year-long improvisation program. As you may have read in my previous post, the program changed my life. Unfortunately, I did not have an improv mentor and knew of few resources that could help me become a better improviser at the time.

In an effort to help you become a better improviser more quickly, I am sharing five resources that might help you…

5) The newspaper and/or other sources of news. When it comes to improvisation, it’s important to be aware of current events and newsworthy topics. This will allow you to insert timely references into your performance and make them more relevant. Judging by past and current show titles at Second City (“Rod Blagojevich Superstar” and “Rush Limbaugh the Musical” come to mind), news and politics play a big role in improvisation performances.

The good news: you’re probably already aware of what’s happening in the world right now. But if following news and current events is a weakness of yours, you might want to pick up your local newspaper or check out news powerhouses like The New York Times or CNN.com.

4) A Netflix subscription. OK, you don’t have to subscribe to Netflix, but your knowledge of movies and pop culture will take you far and open up plenty of improv possibilities on stage. It might also be helpful to know the various film genres in the event you’re called to participate in an improv game. For example, I played a game that challenged our group to play a particular scene in the style of a film noir. Luckily, I remembered watching “Double Indemnitiy” with a college roommate, which helped me get an idea about how I needed to approach the scene. But there were plenty of moments I wasn’t familiar with a particular movie or genre. In cases like these I deferred to other team members on stage and did my best.

3) Comfortable shoes. Really, all clothing worn during an improv class should be comfortable. Comfortable shoes (and clothing) will help you when it comes to getting physical on stage. You don’t need to be as physical as Jim Carrey, but audiences respond to physical action on stage. Personally, some of my favorite moments on stage happened when I got down on my knees and played a young child or an animal. Wearing comfortable clothing (including shoes), in my humble opinion, will help you be prepared for any improv situation and help you feel loose.

2) “The Second City Book of Improvisation” by Anne Libera. This is the book that I wish had been around when I started improvising. It’s filled with improv rules, history and words of wisdom. Some of these nuggets of wisdom include: “Try not to tell; try to show” or “Be prepared for anything, like a Boy Scout.” It’s important to remember that this book, while incredibly informative, is no substitute for the real thing. So take some of these principles and apply them in your classes. Experiment.

If you want to incorporate more improvisation in your life, but you’re not ready or willing to take classes, you might want to check out books like “Improvise This: How to Think on Your Feet So You Don’t Fall on Your Face” by Mark Bergren, Molly Cox and Jim Detmar or “Improv Wisdom: Don’t Prepare, Just Show Up” by Patricia Madsen. These books are great for applying improv principles at work or at any moment in your day. But don’t just read the books for their creative ideas, really apply them. Strike up conversations with a stranger in an elevator or at a coffee shop. Remember that improv is not necessarily about trying to be funny…it’s more about listening to others and responding appropriately.

1) Your Beautiful Mind. When it comes down to it, your success and enjoyment as an improviser are linked to what’s between your ears. It matters not whether you’ve ever been seen on the cover of Vogue, Details or People. Perhaps you were always the last person chosen when you participated in team sports back in school. It doesn’t matter what happened ten or twenty years ago – improv is about right now.

Improv is about bringing your life experience, your unique point of view to a scene. It’s about listening, playing and letting loose. It’s about facing fears and taking a risk that you might appear silly in front of others. It’s also about being in the present moment and having an open, curious frame of mind.

While these resources are no guarantee for improv success, hopefully they lead to greater enjoyment on stage and can be tools that help you to get where you want to be a little faster.

How about you…do you think about taking improv classes? Do you have any resources that you’ve used and applied? I’d love to hear more about it…

As you may have read here last month, you know that improvisation is more than just an entertaining type of comedy routine. When done well, improv can generate a lot of laughs and be highly entertaining. But I’ve always believed that my taking a year’s worth of improvisation classes makes me a better employee because those classes helped me to: develop better listening skills, think more quickly on my feet, go with the flow in times of chaos and become a stronger team player.

So it was of great interest to read about a Chicago start-up company, Groupon Inc., who has hired several former improvisers to its growing staff. According to Dan Jessup, Groupon’s head recruiter, 25 of its 350 employees have improvisation training. In the article Jessop says, “improvisers are flexible and comfortable when they don’t have all the answers to the information and react.” You can find the full story in the May 24 issue of Crain’s Chicago Business or click here. For more on Groupon, click below.

How about you…what kinds of skills have you gained outside of work that makes you a better employee? Have you added these skills to your resume?

So maybe you’ve read a little about applying improv to daily life and your intrigued and want to learn more. Today I want to share with you some resources that might be of help to you in your quest.

Classes

First and foremost, if you’re curious about improv, dive in and take an improv class in your area. It’s important to mention that improv classes are not the same as acting classes, which tend to be more serious and theory-based. Improv classes usually involve various improv games and warm-up exercises which tend to be more playful and fun. At one class I took about ten years ago, I remember that we had to act and get in the character of someone we admired. I chose Matt Damon and soon took on Matt Damon’s persona in a couple fun and interesting exercises.

Your best bet to find improv classes is to Google “improv classes” in your town. If you’re fortunate to have several improv schools in your area, please note that each school might have it’s own improv philosophy. I brought this up when I had coffee with my improv teacher a few weeks ago and he mentioned that the improv school that I attended when he was my teacher (Players Workshop) had a sense of “purity and kindness” about it. Had I chosen Second City or IO (Improv Olympic as it was known then), I might have had a different learning experience.

Online

There are quite a few improv resources online. Some resources include:

The Improv Resource Center, which is essentially a pretty good message board filled with improvisation information. From what I can tell, there are frequent posts and updates. There’s also updates from several regional areas.

The Improv Encyclopedia. This site includes an encyclopedia of improv games, which is worth a visit. If you teach, conduct meetings or have kids, it might be worth a look.

The Second City Almanac of Improvisation by Anne Libera. This is the improv book I wish was written when I took classes. It is filled with numerous ideas on how to become a better improviser on the stage. I really like some of the quotes that are sprinkled throughout the book like this one: ” Recognize the space. Own it. Use it. Make it yours. Adapt, adopt and improve it by making discoveries that help define it even more.” This is, quite simply, an awesome book if you take or plan to take an improv class.

Improvisation For the Theater by Viola Spolin (3rd Edition). I haven’t read this book, but my former improv teacher, David Murphy, says that much of the stuff taught at Players Workshop came from this book. I’ve also heard this book considered by many as the bible of improvisation.

Video

Improv Everywhere is one of my favorite sites for a laugh. Part performance art, part improvisation and pure fun…here’s a really great Improv Everywhere mission from several months back…

There you go…you are ready to say “yes and” and dive into some improv, right? If you are aware of any other great resources, I’d be interested in hearing about them. Thanks for your attention and keep on laughing.